By Dorothy L. Tengler Although studies have illustrated the importance of stethoscope hygiene and guidelines have been established, healthcare professionals rarely comply. Failure to disinfect stethoscopes could be as serious as ignoring hand hygiene, and healthcare providers are rarely performing stethoscope hygiene between patients. The question remains: How can we change this? Standard education may not be the answer to the problem.READ MORE

After the success of ANA-CDC NICE Network Webinar 1, where ANA\C was a proud presenter, Webinar 2 on the importance of collaboration is here:Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 10-11am PST | Live Webinar – FREE!
The environment around you and your patients is a natural reservoir for disease pathogens. Preventing contamination between a patient and their surroundings is a critical component to breaking the chain of infection. “The Role of the Clinical Environment of Care in HAI Transmission: Collaboration between Nursing and Environmental Services” explores how working together prevents and reduces the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) through the application of standards, guidelines, best practices and established processes in infection control. Register Today!

As a professional nursing organization that is a Premier Member in a year long ANA’s Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation Grand Challenge initiative, we offer tools and resources on how to deal with stress and burnout that may lead to substance abuse. Recognizing that 2017 is The Year of the Healthy Nurse, we must stay vigilant in our efforts to focus on healthy work life balance, and the importance of nutrition, healthy sleep, and exercise. For more information, please click here.

"SB 349 would greatly reduce access to life-saving dialysis care by reducing available appointment slots and threatening the viability of many dialysis clinics, especially in rural and poorer communities." Read more of this article via The Fresno Bee.

Keep happiness hints in sight. Put items that make you smile in places where you'll see them often. That photo of your son riding a bike for the first time or the tassel from the cap you wore at your nursing school graduation can help make a tough day better.

Compliment a coworker. Letting a colleague know you appreciate him or her not only makes them feel the love, but you'll feel it, too.

Chicago TribuneOne woman describes getting slapped and groped on the job. Another was punched in the head repeatedly. A third was bitten so hard that a spike in blood pressure burst an aneurysm in her brain, altering her life forever.
All three are nurses, who say their jobs place them in harm's way as the rate of violent incidents at hospitals appears to be growing.READ MORE

By Jessica Taylor An estimated 2.6 million stillbirths occur worldwide annually, and each year about 24,000 (1 in 160 pregnancies) babies are stillborn in the United States. As frequent of an occurrence that it is, many studies have reported that patients are often left to suffer in silence. It's inevitable that having these parents go through life and death simultaneously is a delicate situation, but it's one that needs to be addressed.READ MORE

Infectious Disease NewsThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a sharp increase in the number of cases of cyclosporiasis reported in the United States this year.
According to a health alert issued by the government agency, 206 cases of the intestinal illness have been reported in 27 states in 2017, compared with 88 at the same time last year. So far, there have been 18 hospitalizations and no reported deaths. Humans are infected by consuming food or water contaminated with the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis but cannot transmit the infection to other people, according to the CDC.READ MORE

Medican EconomicsVaccination in older adults is an important step in preventive care, particularly as those individuals’ immune responses decline. A new study of two nurse practitioner-managed clinics may hold the key to improving uptake of vaccines in this population.
And while the study occurred in this environment, the clinics employed practices for more than a decade that may help improve compliance across primary care. READ MORE

By Joan Spitrey First, this is not an article aimed at scaremongering or sensationalizing headlines to evoke fear. Although not a topic discussed much since the Cold War, the possibility of a nuclear attack is sadly now part of the international conversation, and healthcare workers need to be educated. The recent escalation of threats between the United States and North Korea has caused many to stop and ask: What would happen during a nuclear attack?READ MORE

HealthDay NewsObese heart surgery patients spend more time in intensive care and take longer to recover than those who aren't obese, a new Canadian study finds.
Researchers examined data from nearly 5,400 patients who had heart surgery at the New Brunswick Heart Center between January 2006 and December 2013. Of those, 36 percent were obese.READ MORE

Medscape (free login required)Primary care providers can safely and effectively manage care for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV), using new drugs, according to a study published online Aug. 7 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. ASCEND (A Phase IV Pilot Study to Assess Community-Based Treatment Efficacy in Chronic Hepatitis C Monoinfection and Coinfection With HIV in the District of Columbia) is the first study to prospectively compare outcomes for treating HCV with direct-acting antivirals delivered by nonspecialists vs. specialists in a real-world setting serving mostly urban, impoverished patients.READ MORE

By Keith Carlson As a profession with an illustrious history and the great respect of the general public, nursing is a career that calls both men and women to its ranks. But even as nurses gain increasing clinical autonomy and the ability and vision to launch their own businesses, the nursing game hasn't necessarily changed for those who still feel stuck. Even as more doors open for nurses to pursue their dreams, many find themselves caught in a trap of feeling pigeonholed.READ MORE

By Dorothy L. TenglerEach year, 100,000 to 300,000 deaths occur from blood clots, such as deep vein thrombosis. This is greater than the total number of people who lose their lives each year to AIDS, breast cancer and motor vehicle crashes combined. Diagnosing a blood clot after physical examination may include ultrasounds, angiographies, CT scans and X-rays, all depending on the suspected location of the clot. But what if there were an even better way to evaluate blood clots?READ MORE

News MedicalThe overall rate of stroke in the United States has been declining in recent years and while that has been good news, a new study suggests it may be primarily good news for men. The research, published in the Aug. 9, online issue of Neurology, found that while the stroke rate for men declined during the study period, for women it remained the same.READ MORE

By Scott G. WeinerIn the face of the ongoing tragedy of the current U.S. opioid epidemic, multiple groups are attempting to create guidelines that influence opioid prescribing behavior. Guidelines are easy and inexpensive to create and don't require legislation or enforcement. But the question remains: Do guidelines work, and if so, what is the magnitude of their effect? To answer this question, we studied the Ohio Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.READ MORE